10 WAYS TO GET YOURSELF OUT OF A FUNK

We’ve all been there – feeling lethargic, depressed, tired, hopeless, self critical and rather negative.

It is most definitely not your mind’s natural habitat, but there are ways to get yourself out of a funk.

I am sharing my top 10 tips with you today:

Meditating every day

Meditation is a powerful tool, if practiced regularly. The aim is not to eliminate thoughts — rather, it’s quieting the mind and taking time to ‘just be’.

There are many forms of meditation and it really doesn’t matter which one you choose. Just start with as little commitment as five minutes each day to create a daily habit.

One of the highest benefits of meditation for me is clarity of thought as I go about my day.

It’s like a muscle that gets stronger with practice. Meditation helped me to deal with fear, anxiety and a very reactionary way of operating. Most leaders I look up to incorporated meditation into their daily routines.

Moving your body

Our bodies are designed to be moved. The key is to find the sort of exercise your body responds to the best — and when I say “best” I mean you crave it almost every day.

What floats my boat, or should I say ‘body’, is yoga and walks outdoors. Yoga itself is also a form of movement meditation and helps the mind to switch off.

Walks outdoors facilitate the opportunity for grounding: walking barefoot on grass or sand.

Breathing in fresh air and producing endorphins, which are a natural by-product of exercise, will help you deal with troubling thoughts.

Getting enough sleep

The body and mind need eight hours of sleep to rejuvenate, repair and replenish.

Having a routine around sleep is a good thing – and by that I mean going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day.

The quality of your sleep is also something to examine. Are you waking up frequently during the night or do you struggle with falling asleep, etc.? Since I started meditating and eating well, I have found my sleeping patterns have improved considerably, too.

Good quality sleep supports your basic framework of mind and body by providing the energy you need to function cognitively.

Nourishing your body temple

There is a saying that a healthy mind can only exist in a healthy body. Eating fresh, hormone-free and unprocessed foods are the very basic pillar of good nutrition.

Preparing your own meals at home from healthy produce and ditching the take-away and deep fried culture of ‘convenience and comfort’ is a lifestyle change necessary to enable the nourishment of your body temple. Start with small changes and build up a grocery-shopping plan that can support healthy meal preparations throughout a busy working week. Feeling better in your body will help you stay more positive.

Expressing your creativity

Everybody is creative and if you don’t quite know what that expression is for you, then start experimenting. You might have to remove some old layers of ‘stuff’ that might block your creative genius, but make no mistake — it’s in there somewhere.

Try thinking back to your childhood and see what you enjoyed creating the most. I’ll tell you one thing: I’ve never met a child who didn’t like colouring in, so if you are stuck with your creativity I’d highly recommend colouring books for adults. I’ve got myself — one with mandalas — and I’m having so much fun with it. Check them out here.

Exercise random acts of kindness

It is scientifically proven that those who give without expecting anything in return are happier individuals.

I am a big fan of the kindness cards by the Wake Up project. It builds on the ‘pay it forward’ approach, whereby you do an act of kindness and at the same time pass on a kindness card for that person to then pay it forward. It could be as simple as buying someone a coffee. You can, however, spread kindness around without the kindness cards: opening a door for someone, helping out a neighbour with something, leaving a note for your loved one etc.

Practicing gratitude daily

If you are reading this article, you have Internet and some kind of an electronic device, such as an iPad or computer, and access to information that can contribute to your self-development. These elements alone are things to be extremely grateful for.

We so often ignore the little things in life because we take them for granted.

Start a gratitude journal and write down three things you are grateful for every day.

Spend time in person with your family and friends

Being surrounded by like-minded individuals is fundamental for your wellbeing.

We are social beings and the sense of belonging and interaction are as strong as our sense of survival.

Being able to talk to someone honestly, openly and genuinely is essential for a healthy mind. Spending quality time with family and friends are therefore fundamental building blocks of a healthy individual.

Exercise more self love

We often deprioritise our own wellbeing just because we’ve got too much going on.

You can’t give if you are depleted.

I love using the example of the ‘oxygen mask’ on airplanes – there is a reason you are asked to put your own mask on first, before you assist your child.

Exercising self love simply means setting aside some time for yourself and treating yourself to something kind. This could be a massage, facial or reading a book etc. It will do wonders for your soul and subsequently for people around you, too.

Examine your ‘Why’

Negative thoughts will creep up from time to time and they can grow from fear, low self-esteem, judgement and worries.

Exercising more presence in everything you do, paying attention to your surroundings and becoming a better listener can help you understand who you are as an individual.

Knowing your purpose will give you strength to act in your highest potential and create freely.

I’d like to finish with a quote from one of my favourite writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Nothing can bring you happiness but yourself.”

What are some of the ways you pull yourself out of a funk? Share with us in the comments below!

I do accept as true with all of the ideas you’ve offered to your post. They’re really convincing and can definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are very quick for novices. Could you please prolong them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.

An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a colleague who had been conducting a little research on this. And he actually ordered me dinner simply because I stumbled upon it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this matter here on your blog.